STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city's transportation system will be receiving $3.7 billion in relief funds from the federal government related to Hurricane Sandy recovery.

The Federal Transit Authority is allocating the funds to repair the system, reimburse agencies for past repairs and for projects to bolster the system to withstand future storms, Sen. Charles Schumer announced.

Each agency receiving the funds will use a portion for repairs and reimbursements and another portion for resiliency projects to protect against future storms. The total allocation breaks down with $2.4 billion going for repairs and $1.3 billion for resiliency projects.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority alone will be receiving $2.6 billion with the rest going to the city Department of Transportation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

"The funds for repairing and restoring the system will mean that the burden of recovering from Sandy is not put on the local commuter and taxpayer, and the resiliency funds will make sure that the MTA will not have to jack up fares through the roof to fund the vital protections that will shield the system from the next storm," said Schumer.

A large portion of the damaged infrastructure was obsolete, so the funds will be bringing transit assets to a "state of good repair," with newer technology.

Resiliency projects could include moving critical infrastructure from flood-prone areas, waterproofing, adding high capacity pumps, improving communication equipment used in emergencies, adding redundant power sources or other more specific projects.